In 1963 German photographer Thomas Hoepker was on the staff of ‘Kristall‘ magazine in Germany, taking a road trip across America from New York to Los Angeles and back, looking at Middle America in three months, when the editor asked him if he would be interested.

“It was 1963 when the editor asked me if I would be interested in taking a road trip across America with a writer friend of mine. I said, “Of course, but what do you want us to report on?” He simply answered, “show us the United States outside of the big cities and the well-known tourist spots. Show us what it’s like to live there for ordinary people.”

USA. Reno, Nevada. 1963. Highway with advertising signs.

 

USA, Las Vegas 1963. Taxi driver with newspaper announcing the assassination of JFK.

USA. Dallas, Texas. 1963. Honest Joe’s Pawn Broker’s shop.

 

USA. Texas. 1963. A Ladies Room in a black village near San Antonio.

 

USA. Houston, Texas. 1963. A turkey billboard at a used tire dealership.

 

USA. New Orleans, Lousiana. 1963.

 

USA, Alabama, slums in Montgomery,

 

USA. Montgomery, Alabama. 1963. Main street.

 

USA. Mississippi. 1963. An African-American settlement in the Mississippi Delta.

 

USA. 1963. Woman in a diner with jukebox at her side.

 

USA. San Francisco, California. 1963. Young Stormtrooper of the American Nazi Party.

 

USA. New York City. 1963. Billboard and passengers on bus.

 

USA. New York City. 1963. A street accident in Harlem.

 

USA. New York. New York City. 1963. Garment district.

 

USA. New York City. 1963. A snow storm in Manhattan’s garment district.

 

USA. New York City. 1963. A snow storm in Manhattan’s garment district.

 

USA. Iowa. 1963. Two men and a dog in front of a small town storefront along the highway.

 

USA. Quincy, Illinois. 1963. A beggar with amputated legs performs a headstand in front of a movie house.

 

USA. Reno, Nevada. 1963. A clown at a lunch counter in a diner.

 

USA. Reno, Nevada. 1963. An old lady walks past a casino with slot machines.

 

USA. Virginia City, Nevada. 1963. A man in a gaming saloon with “one armed bandits”

 

USA. San Francisco, California. 1963. A man with a cigar at night on a downtown street.

 

USA. San Francisco, California. 1963. Women talk on a downtown street.

 

USA. San Francisco. 1963. Downtown street scene.

 

USA. San Francisco, California. 1963. A man with a goat during a dowtown parade.

 

USA. San Francisco, California. 1963. An old lady rides on a float with the American flag during a Fourth of July parade in downtown.

 

USA. Los Angeles, California. 1963. Tourists visit a sculpture exhibition in Forest Lawn Cemetery.